


The Game of Pool

by Sabby



Category: General Hospital
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-04-08
Updated: 2002-04-08
Packaged: 2017-10-27 02:32:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabby/pseuds/Sabby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Let me spell it out for you.  C-O-R-I-N-T-H-O-S, as in Mrs.  Now get lost.”  She walked around the table having decided on a putting the 7 in the portside center pocket after bouncing it off the far end of the table, where she had stood a moment ago dreaming of Sonny’s hands on her...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Game of Pool

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s note:  
> Thank Mel guys, she came up with the idea and asked me to write it for her. Here you go baby. I hope you like it.
> 
> it's when carly see's the flowers and reads the note. let her finally loose it and break down. i want sonny to feel what an ass he's been latley. let her remind him it's vday and it's close to the anniversary of their second marriage. plus gardina's are her special flower becaue of her mother virgina. have her get back in the elevator before sonny can stop her. what would be good if while she's talking he lets a tear escape. i do want him to tell alexis that he know's how she feels but he dosen't or never will feel that way. let him go after carly who is at jakes. then do the pool fantisy after a long talk..

The Game of Pool  
By: Sabby

Carly stepped off the elevator, looked to her left and her right, then down at the little white envelope. She crouched and picked it up. As she did her nose began to register a familiar sent. _Gardenias, lots of them, fresh._ Carly’s stomached turned as she opened the card.

 _Breathe, Sonny._

Carly’s stomach hit the floor, her temper hit the roof. Her mind spun on one small fact. _Today is Valentine’s day._

“Well, this is all nice and tidy,” she ground out through her teeth. She raised her eyes and leveled them at Sonny. “Flowers on Valentine’s day, for your lawyer. Let me guess,” she said raising an empty hand. “Fresh gardenias.” She nodded at the guilty look Sonny wore and the confusion she spied on Alexis’ face. She shook her head with a pained smirk, trying to keep her temper.

“Carly,” Alexis tried to think of how to defuse the mounting tension. She couldn’t find a way and her mouth just hung open. She looked to Sonny for assistance but all she saw were his guilty and down turned eyes.

“No need to explain councilor why my _ex-husband_ felt it necessary to give you my favorite flower on Valentine’s day and just two short weeks before our anniversary.” Her temper was quickly flying out of control. “You know,” she said shifting so her body was in direct line with Sonny’s, a wide based, fighting stance. “You accused me of playing games, fighting dirty, of using everyone to get what I want. You hypocrite! You use Alexis because you know her little crush on you drives me nuts.” Alexis’ o-ed mouth got a little wider in attempted protest but Carly’s rant plowed right over her.

“You have been manipulating me, Zander, Mike and even pathetic, little Alexis. All in the name of the control freak within, right Sonny? You have to control everything so it can’t hurt you. But it’s not working, is it? You can control Alexis’ crush by giving her just enough attention to keep her strung along, but mention us often enough to keep her thinking that you can never move on. But you haven’t been able to get a good handle on the rest of us, huh? Me, Zander, Mike, we don’t bend to you so easy. ”

She paused looking at Sonny’s astonished eyes and stony face. “What did you forget how well I know you? Did you forget how alike we are? How much damage we can do when we really hurt, when we’re running scared?

“I thought we agreed in Martinique to stop. To stop playing dirty, to deal open and honestly. How many times do I have to climb down off the balance beam before you will stop pulling me back up?” Carly swung her arm back and whacked the elevator button, knowing she would need an escape after she finished shooting her mouth off. “20, 30, how about this for a solution… Michael and I leave town?

“I’m tired of trying to pretend like my heart isn’t unraveling, Sonny. So if you wanna play games like we used to, fine… I kissed Zander! Put that in your hat and chew it.” She stepped back into the just arrived elevator. She thanked God that it came when it did or she would have been stuck with Sonny’s wrath. How could she explain that to him? She kissed Zander. It wasn’t to hurt him or even to use against him, she was trying to move past Sonny and Zander was cute, sweet, and he respected her, understood her. _Why the hell shouldn’t I have kissed him? We’re divorced._

Alexis’ mind reeled around what Carly had blurted. Not about kissing Zander, but before. Sonny was using her to get to Carly. He knew she had conflicting feelings over their relationship and manipulated them to suit his purpose. _Maybe he still is the amoral, selfish, …. What else did I call him? He’s still all of that, he used our friendship, he used me. But Sonny would never betray our friendship…_ Alexis’ confused mind told her feet to return her to her apartment, hand raised to her forehead in an attempt to comfort the dissonance contain inside.

Sonny watched Alexis’ retreating back.

“Damn.” At least she hadn’t slapped him again. He looked back at the elevator doors and saw the tears starting in Carly’s eyes when she had marched through them. She had wiped the floor with him. Called him on everything he’d been doing. And she dropped a bomb of her own, issued a challenge. He knew that if he rose to the bait and reverted back to name calling— _slut, whore, tramp_ —she’d never take him back. She’d never forgive him. He couldn’t lose her, not to some kid like Zander. He couldn’t let her leave, not to some God forsaken corner of the earth. He couldn’t let her keep running scared – scared of him – not if he could find a way off the balance beam.

\--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--@--

Carly held her beer in her left hand to the balled side of her right. The cold glass dulling the pain she’d inflicted there. She had collapsed into angry, hysterical tears in the elevator and beat it on the wall. When she reached the bottom Johnny was blocking the door with his back, giving her warning and time to pull herself from the corner of the floor she had slumped down on. She had brushed past him when she was ready. She squeezed his upper arm on her way past in appreciation. If she hadn’t felt so wretched she would have stopped and teased him about the size of his extremity until he blushed. When she got outside Max was holding the door of a cab open for her. She patted his hand as she bowed in.

She’d wound up at Jake’s. She needed a beer and she had to calm down before she saw Michael. She didn’t want to upset him. She’d been playing pool for a while and considered going up to warn Zander about Sonny. But she figured Zander would have told Sonny the truth at the next opportunity so, why warn him? Besides if she saw him she’d get upset again. _… What had he been thinking?_ They were getting divorced; they hadn’t shared a bed in almost a year. They hadn’t locked lips since Angel Sorel Ellis’ “escape.” She’d barely had the courage to touch him since they got back from Martinique. And he was sending flowers to Alexis on Valentine’s Day.

She bent, took aim at the 12 ball, and struck it with too much force sending slamming into the other balls ruining an easy shot. She huffed uselessly, resigned. She finally let her mind wander where it wanted, to Sonny. She closed her eyes and let her head drupe. In her mind she could feel him, sense his nearness next to her, feel the back of his hand on her cheek. _If only it were real._ She’d turn her cheek to the comfort and turn her body into his, link their hands, their mouths, their bodies into one. One writhing, torrent of need, passion, and love fulfilled.

The balls still clinked around on the table and the 6 sent the 8 ball gently bumping into her fingers curled over the edge of the rubber borders. It brought her out of the intense calenture of her fantasy. Opening her eyes to the helter-skelter ball placement on the table before her she tried to find her next shot.

“I’ve been told pool’s no fun unless you have a little competition.” For a moment the words harkened memories of a leather jacket and motorcycle that had helped her escape a lifetime ago. But he was gone; he couldn’t forgive her for doing what even St. Robin wouldn’t have.

“That’s the worst line I’ve ever heard, buddy. I hope you are good at getting your jollies from a distance. This is a game for one.” Carly straightened her body depriving the speaker of an ass-shot to put in his spank-bank. She heard him shuffle closer, heard the rumple of leather. “I guess it was too much to hope my being rude would be a big enough hint, loser. Let me spell it out for you. C-O-R-I-N-T-H-O-S, as in Mrs. Now get lost.” She walked around the table having decided on a putting the 7 in the portside center pocket after bouncing it off the far end of the table, where she had stood a moment ago dreaming of Sonny’s hands on her, holding her, caressing her, driving her body to its limits and over the edge. She shook her head, convincing herself that she wanted to make this shot not fuck her husband’s brains out all over the table.

She bent down and focused on the cue ball, on its blue smudges and tiny dents from overly forceful players. She struck it smoothly, the finished cue stick gliding between her fingers, hitting its mark, making muted and sensual sounds over the felt. The 7 headed in a neat line towards the other end of the table where a hand snaked out of the shadows and snatched it. “It’s good to know you aren’t that mad at me.” _Sonny._

Carly stiffened still bent over the table where she’d remained to watch her planned play act itself out. Sonny’s eyes raked over her body, elegantly poised over the green felt of the pool table, her blonde tresses falling over her shoulders, pieces falling haphazard into her eyes. The astonishment he saw there almost made him forget the voluptuous nature of her body bent parallel to the horizontal table, her neck curved up and open… waiting for his onslaught, her sweet face, innocent still in its shock, her arching back, her legs taught beneath her. Sonny had to remind himself why he was here. It was not, as tempted as he was, to take his wife here in the middle of the full bar. He fingered the 7 ball in his hand, looked at the table searching for the crazy shot Carly had been looking at. Finding her goal he, tilted his head wondering at the simple plan she chosen this time— _always had to keep him guessing_ —and sent the seven ball sailing to the left side center pocket.

Carly raised herself off the table much to Sonny’s disappointment, but also to his pleasure. He didn’t want the riffraff in Jake’s eyeing _his_ wife. “What are you doing here?” Carly asked coldly. The anger registering that he had felt from her earlier. He stepped around the table, picking up her beer on the way, sipping at it—stealthily trying to gauge how much of it she’d drunk—and continued forward to her side. She was stunned, when he arrived, to find him not in his usual garb. He wore instead boots, blue jeans, a tight white T-shirt, and a well-oiled, black leather jacket. Her pulse tripped in her veins; to counter its effect and hide she took a pot shot. “What, there a Jason-Look-Alike contest tonight I’m not aware of?”

Sonny cringed but knew that would be one of the nicest barbs she’d issue unless he spoke up. She could really be a belligerent drunk when she wanted. He also deserved it for using her insecurities about Alexis as a weapon. So why couldn’t she use his insecurities over her and Jason’s relationship to against him? He shook his head, as she took her beer back.

“Good, then you won’t lose when you leave.” She walked to the other side of the table. Needing distance to help her keep her body’s yen for his under control. She considered the way he looked in his relaxed clothes… _like sin_ , not that the way he looked in a suit wasn’t. She just itched to slip her hands over and under that leather jacket, grab his butt in those ass-hugging jeans. But he was trying to move on with Alexis the same way she had with Zander. They both knew it was a mistake.

“No.”

“No what?” Carly asked annoyed and looking for her next shot. It wasn’t easy to focus when she noticed him moving around the table to her.

“I’m not leaving,” he said simply. He wasn’t giving her any wiggle room for a fight.

“Oh, so I’m supposed to leave,” she said tossing her cue. “Fine.” She spun bringing her beer to her mouth. The bitter liquid purging the tears gathering in her throat. Sonny grabbed her coat before she could. “What? Give me my jacket.” Sonny shook his head at the flimsy material; it was February in New York. Granted it had been a mild winter but it was still way too cold for what she’d chosen. “I don’t want to fight any more tonight Sonny, so just give me my jacket.”

“More? We didn’t fight earlier Carly you yelled and didn’t give me a chance to say anything.” Sonny realized too late he should have held that remark back but he saw the fuse in her eyes light and her hand stopped groping as she prepared for a real fight he smiled; her battle mode was up. _God she’s beautiful, too beautiful._

“What Sonny, is it time for the ‘we’re just friends’ speech, because I really think I’d rather hear Zander’s ‘I know what you’re thinking’ spiel.” She turned away to ask for another beer and as she did Sonny motioned to cut her off. She caught him out of the corner of her eye. “ _God_ , I hate you. You can’t let me do a thing on my own, can you? I go into business with Jax and you issue a ‘don’t hurt Carly’ mandate every week. I say no guards and you have to plant Zander in my life. We say no games but you can’t let me have that either.” Carly’s voice had risen in pain and desperation and started to come out a bit frantic.

Equally frantic and desperate Sonny called back, “because I can’t lose you.” He sighed and brought down the arm he hadn’t realized he raised. “Because we pushed each other so far that this is the only way I can try to hold on to you. I can’t let go. I can’t, Carly, I tried. I tried when I singed the papers because you asked me to. But I … I want to do, “ he paused again fighting to find the words that said what he felt, that could fix things between them. “…To do anything I can… to… to bring my family home. To keep… keep you with me. I need you… Michael… I need us.” His hand fell over his heart and tried to still its torturous beat.

Carly’s hand went to her heart as well, the side she’d pounded the wall with pressed close to the thrumming within her. Her mind needed to push away the emotions his words brought, but her heart swelled with them. Her body’s confusion held her feet fast to the floor. Part of her wanted to fling herself into his arms. Another part wanted to beat him to within an inch of his life for letting her think he was moving on, that they were over. Yet another part wanted to walk away and cry into the night.

Frightened and somehow hopeful because of her silence Sonny stepped forward. And stretched a hand to her cheek. “I’m sorry I pushed, and I’m sorry I hurt you. But I want you. I need you.” His fingers grazed the delicate skin of her face worshipingly. “Please tell me I haven’t pushed you all the way out the door. That it’s not too late.” His eyes pleaded with her in a way she understood, that spoke to her heart. Like a little boy asking not to be punished. Her left hand went to his face of its own volition. He leaned into the caress. The intensity of relief flooding his face hurt her.

“Did you think you could ever push me that far?” He nodded afraid to look in her eyes. She shook her head at him and bent her knees to see his eyes. “No.” She let the word hang, let it sink in and searched his eyes for reassuring acceptance of the fact. She saw his eyes grab the thought and cling to it like a life raft. She saw the hurt inside him; it mirrored the pain inside her. “I don’t want to do anymore damage, Sonny. I’ve wrecked every good thing we had.”

“You didn’t do it alone,” Sonny interjected. “I played a big part in this too.” Sonny put his arms on her shoulders and fought his muscles not to pull her all the way to him.

“What’s going on Sonny? What are you thinking?” Carly’s eyes searched his, unsure what the deal here really was.

“I want you back, I need you with me Carly,” Sonny said his eyes honest. The truth she saw was raw and unedited even though they were in a public bar, surrounded by people who probably knew exactly who Sonny was. And he didn’t care. Her eyes seemed to melt into tears. Her resolved flowed out of her as they did. His look grew worried and he pulled her closer to him and studied her face. “What, Carly? What’s wrong?”

In Martinique he told he that he trusted that she loved him. That was the most he could give her then. She was beginning to realize tonight what that meant. For him, for her, for them. She smiled and crushed herself against him, laughing a little. Her arms wrapped tight around him but his breath was short because he didn’t know how much to hope. Carly couldn’t contain her smile, her laughter, or her tears at this point. “Carly, you’re starting to worry me here.”

“Sorry,” she muttered pulling away and wiping at her mascara with her fingers and giggling. He was smiling at her merriment but still clueless as to why she was so happy.

“What,” he asked his dimples showing. She laughed again and grew serious, deciding to keep her discovery to herself, for now.

“I’m glad you told me the truth about why you’ve been pissing me off.” This time he laughed. “And I’m rather pleased that you,” she eyed his attire, “decided to …umm… I like this jacket.” Her voice was playful and her hands on an excavation expedition. Sonny tried to close his eyes and ignore their roaming and their effect on him. “How come I’ve never seen this look before?” She came closer to him and tried to keep herself from exploding in desire. Sonny just shrugged, afraid that if he opened his mouth it would decided to dive down on hers. He kept kicking himself as a mental reminder that they were at Jake’s, and taking her on the pool table was not an option. “Hummm,” Carly’s moan of approval as she smelled the leather was almost his breaking point.

He cleared his throat and moved away saying; “you want another beer?” His mind was screaming “evade” at him but he didn’t want to say goodnight, and he didn’t think throwing Carly over his shoulder before they worked things out would help matters any… regardless of where they ended up. Carly tugged on the corner of his coat. He turned to her, seeing the mischievous innocence she seemed to exude, he couldn’t turn away.

“I wouldn’t mind another drink,” she took a step towards him. “I could deal with another game of pool,” and another step towards him. “I’d be ok with playing alone.” Now she was half a breath from Sonny’s body. “I’d like some company,” her lips nearly touching his. “But what I want is to play with you.” Her tone would not be misunderstood. Neither would the look in her eye allow him to misunderstand her double meaning. “So,” she said smirking and moving away. “You wanna play?” She picked her cue up from the table where she’d thrown it.

Sonny mouthed yes because he couldn’t speak, his eyes riveted to face. She handed him her cue and started to rack the balls. Sonny returned with a stick more to his liking but had hers as well. The waitress brought Carly another beer and Sonny water. Carly smirked and eyed the water. “You can’t get good scotch in a place like this.” His quasi-serious comment was rewarded with her pealing laughter and wide, bright smile.

“Oh Corinthos,” she sighed shaking her head from side to side. “You wanna play for money?”

He considered her face. “Nah, money I got.” He looked at the triangle of balls tried to calm his revving body by concentrating on their colors.

“Then what should we play for?” She straightened after removing the wood setter from around the balls expertly.

“I’m always in the market for commodities.” She wanted to play safe; Sonny would play the safest game he knew.

“Commodities?” she asked contemplating where he was going with this.

“Yeah, commodities. You know, gold, silver, platinum, pork bellies, orange juice.” He smirked at the last.

“Well, I don’t have any of that. Unless you want my earrings,” she said raising an eyebrow and setting her cue between her feet.

“No, you can keep your earrings, they look nice on you.” She nodded a thank you. “But a commodity a man like me can never have enough of is the right kind of information.”

“Isn’t that line a bit predictable and trite for you Mr. Corinthos? A little too _Sopranos’_ , or Corleone for your coffee-importing-self?”

He shook is head. “Not that kind of information, Mrs. Cornithos.”

“Oh,” she said thrilling because he called her Mrs. “What kind of information?” she looked down and the rubber stopper butting the cue.

“Kind you have plenty of.” He missed this banter, the easy back and forth of their particular type of foreplay and communication. She looked at him quizzically. “Information about you,” was his answer to her unspoken question. “Information about my wife.” Neither smiled but their souls responded to the look they spied in one another’s eyes. “They” weren’t going anywhere. Everyone who had second-guessed their love from the start was going to be proved wrong after all,

“So like what? You win, I tell you something?”

“No, more like you sink a ball you answer a question.” She looked at him incredulously.

“And what do I get out of that?” He smiled at the look of disbelief and dislike on her face.

“Well it works both ways. I get one in you ask a question,” he said leaning towards her on his cue.

“But are you gonna answer my questions?” she asked leaning on her cue in kind. She wasn’t ready to trust that their wasn’t a twist to his proposition just like she hadn’t when he asked her to move back in after Martinique. Rightly so, he guessed.

“If it’s not about my ‘coffee,’ yes.” She nodded as if she’d expected as much and she did. There was always a qualification to everything Sonny did. “Don’t look like that Carly. This isn’t something new.”

“Did I say it was? No, I just wanted to know the rules before I started playing.” To Sonny, suddenly, she looked hurt. Like she’d expected too much and had her hand slapped away. Sonny leaned further in and kissed her nose. “Break.” Sonny moved away to do as he was told. None of the balls went into a pocket. “You wouldn’t be trying to throw the game would you?”

“Me,” his face now mockingly innocent. “Never.” She nodded and moved to take her shot. She didn’t sink any either. Sonny looked at her.

“You started it.” He laughed and nodded admitting his fault. Taking his turn he sunk the solid purple 4 ball. “You’re stripes.”

Rolling her eyes, “thanks for the clue.” Carly considered her shot more carefully this time and pondered as well what her question would be. She could tell Sonny was waiting for her impending, damning question. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did you take Alexis to Puerto Rico, why did you take her to the casino, and why did you give her gardenia’s?” Carly looked down at her fingernails to avoid letting him see how hurt she was by his actions. She heard Sonny sigh and then his familiar footfalls spaced out with purpose. She saw his feet before she saw his hand take her lowered chin. Raising her head so he could look her in the eye, he took a deep breath.

“Because I couldn’t do those things for or with you. I wanted to spend time with you, rebuild everything we tore down like we did,” his eyes got misty at the thought. “When… we… When we lost the baby. But I couldn’t give you what you needed. I wanted to but trying wasn’t enough to get you back so I pretended Alexis was you and I tried to recreate something between us,” he motioned with his hand. “It was a mistake. The flowers today, they… It’s … Kristina told me I don’t appreciate Alexis, I gave her flowers to show I appreciate her, and to shut Kristina up. Not for Valentine’s day.” He waited to see if she wanted more, when her eyes registered acceptance—and even understanding—of his explanation he stepped back. “Your shot.” She moved forward and, tit for tat, sank the 11 ball after bouncing the 6 and 8 around to hit it cavalierly. She stood with triumph and defiance, ready as any to face a firing squad, and turned her eyes to Sonny’s.

His eyes played with the features on her face, imagining them happy, sad, relaxed, annoyed, playful. He couldn’t concentrate on picking a question. He was too happy to be playing pool with his wife. Spending time in her company was enough to vanquish the rest of the world. Their eyes locked and Carly came around the table to him. She raised herself further on her toes and kissed his lips lightly.

“Are you going to ask your question?” she asked coyly.

“Maybe not, if you kiss me again.” She obliged and he captured her head with his hand at her nape. Driving her light kiss to a deep caress, he recalled his original purpose. “Nope not good enough, have to ask my question.”

“Damn,” Carly breathed backing away half a step.

“Carly,” Zander called from beyond the halo of the pool table’s hanging light. “A moment, please?” Carly had recognized his voice but couldn’t see his face due to the lighting. She moved to where he stood on the opposite side of the pool table. Carrying her cue before her like a staff, she looked blandly, and somewhat miffed, at Zander. “What do you think you are up to? Huh? Sonny finds out you’re hitting on guys at Jake’s and he’s gonna flip on you, on me, on whatever poor shmuck,” he pointed—unwittingly—in Sonny’s direction. “Had the misfortune of not knowing you aren’t over Sonny and that Sonny’s isn’t over you.” Sonny, interested in what his employee and Carly’s friend had to say, leaned down on to the table spacing his hands more than shoulder’s width apart and eyeing them.

“Zander, why, if Sonny and I are divorced, would it matter whom I kiss? You were the one who wanted to run to Sonny and tell him what happened between us.”

“Because I need to deal fair with Sonny. I owe him a lot.” Carly nodded, she could understand that.

“But you make it sound like I belong to Sonny, Zander. Like I’m his personal property and if I kiss someone else he has the right to press charges or break knees. He doesn’t own me.” Carly’s anger was starting to rally and she hoped that Sonny couldn’t hear them arguing. She shouldn’t have bothered to worry, and gone straight to panic. He could definitely hear their conversation.

“I know that. You are your own person and no one could ever possess you, god forbid anyone try to tell you what to do, but…” Carly rolled her eyes at him. “But you know how you get. You get upset and you do and say crazy things. Things you asked me to help you avoid. I’m just doing what you, and Sonny, asked me to do. So please, tell this guy to hit the road,” Zander said with a finger towards Sonny.

“Zander?” Sonny asked for his attention.

“Yeah?” his head whipping in the direction of Sonny’s voice, his eyes a bit confused.

“Why don’t you hit the road? I’ll see Carly gets home safe.” Carly wanted to laugh as Zander’s body language changed drastically from relaxed yet authoritative to shocked and a bit frightened.

“Uh, ummm. I, Sonny?” Carly and Sonny smiled at his obvious confusion.

“Yeah, it’s ok Zander. Go home. Thanks for trying. Have a nice night.” Carly looked a bit stumped now too. Sonny relished in surprising her for a change as he prowled around the table to where they were. He slipped an arm around Carly’s waist and pulled her hip to his. “I do want to talk to you at my office in the morning. But for now, get lost. My wife and I have a game to finish.” If Zander’s jaw were made of tin it would have made quite a clatter as it fell to the floor. Carly’s as well would have made a bit of noise. “Pick up your chin and get gone kid.” Zander did as he was bid and gathered his wits.

Taking one last disbelieving look at Sonny, then he shifted his gaze to Carly. Smirking, a knowing glint in his eye, “see? I told ya,” he said smartly and waltzed towards the stairs and his room.

Sonny watched Carly blush. And wondered what Zander had told her. Was it something to do with what he’d said to her tonight? Or something to do with their kiss? Carly’s gaze shifted back to Sonny with an intensity that was not lost on him. “What was that all about? I thought you would gut him like a fish.”

“Eh, eh, ehhh,” Sonny said waggling a finger at her. “It’s my turn, remember?” She acquiesced, waiting again for him to ask his question. “Why did you kiss Zander?” His voice was serious and the look in his eyes was one of contained pain.

“Because I wanted to.” It was the truth, heaven be damned. Having “answered” his question she looked him in the eye. “Your turn.”

“Carly,” he said pulling her back to his side by the waist of her pants when she tried to leave. “Why did you want to?”

“Nope, nu’hu, Corinthos. You got your one question answered you’ll have to save that for the next round.” He huffed and looked at her waiting. “I am sticking to your rules.”

“I answered more than one question last time,” he pointed out.

“No, I’m not going to get taken advantage of because you needed clarification.” He looked at her still, waiting. She looked away but felt his eyes on her face, waiting. She looked back and met him head on. “Fine, as a gesture of good will, and in the interest of ending this game, I’ll tell you why. Because he’s nice to me, he respects me, and he listens. He tells me that I’m good and smart and pretty and…. I don’t know… I wanted to think that he was right, to feel like I was all those things. I wanted to see if I could deal with something, with someone and it be that simple. But then it wasn’t. Zander started fumbling for an excuse and I felt stupid and like he didn’t care if I was all those things he said because I had a big ‘ole tattoo across my ass that said, ‘Sonny’s – dead or alive.’ Doesn’t exactly make a girl feel attractive.” She sighed looking down. “I thought you were moving on with Alexis and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna look like the one chasing a man who doesn’t want her… again.”

Sonny understood that, without translating it out of Carly-ese. He wasn’t sure it that was because he was starting to think the way she did, in convoluted mazes, or if it meant she was thinking more logically. “And now that you know better?”

“Now that I know for sure that you aren’t going to touch Alexis, I wish I hadn’t let things get so … blurred with Zander. It’s gonna hurt him more now when I have to squelch out his little crush.” At this Sonny raised a brow.

“Squelch?”

“Yeah, you know, what you should have done with Alexis in the beginning instead of feeding into it.” Sonny smirked. He may have been a little late getting the hint. But he had finally picked up on Alexis’ somewhat fuzzier feelings for him and attempted to “squelch” them this evening. He slipped a note under her door on his way out to run into Carly and Jake’s. It had been simple and to the point, telling her that, while he valued her friendship, it would never be more, to halt the divorce, and that he was sorry if he’d hurt her. He released Carly, against his will, and turned back to the table. He quickly sank the 6 ball and took a swig of her beer.

“Hey, I thought this stuff wasn’t good enough for you?” she asked with her hands in the air, one of them still holding her cue.

“I said the scotch wasn’t any good. I didn’t say anything about the beer.” His hands were turned up too. Carly looked at him shaking her head, pondering how she had gotten herself into this. It wasn’t much of a mystery though; she loved him, that’s how. “Thanks for the easy question.”

Her jaw dropped again. “Oh, no you don’t. That wasn’t my question and you know it.” She moved towards him thinning her full lips into a taught line. Her eyes went hard and she did her best to freeze her visage with menace. The look on Sonny’s face went from frightened worry to pride. Soon it cracked into a large, very dimpled grin.

“You’re pretty good at that,” he said beaming at her hard façade, proud and adoring.

Her veneer shattered instantly revealing a glorious smile. “I learned form the best.” Her eyes’ sparkle roared back to life and the fire inside was warm and toasty once more. When she saw the light in Sonny’s eyes dim a bit so did she. “What? What did I do?”

Her comments cut Sonny deep. First, to realize that he had taught her how to shut down enough to put on the game face he’d just seen. Second, she instantly faulted herself. Took the blame to be hers without question. He had cursed her with his disease. He killed part of her with his life, because of the things that weren’t in him, because he was broken.

Carly watched him start to shut her out and she tapped him on the head with the tip of her cue. “I still have a question.” He tried to focus on her but the guilt circled. He shoved at it to put it away, to beat himself up with later, but it kept falling back in his face. “Look at me,” Carly said grabbing his face, bringing it down to her own. “I learned how to cut myself off a long time ago. I’ve been doing it for years. Someone calls me a whore, I deal with it, I’m just getting better at how I handle it.” Sonny thought about how he had called her a whore, and worse. “I know who I am. Now more than ever.” Her eyes bore into his, planting love, strength, and fire.

“Who are you now?” Sonny asked. He couldn’t help but feel like he was enough in her eyes when she looked at him like that. With all the good things they shared sitting like gifts on the other side of a store window. The little boy in him reached out to find the glass gone, to realize he was amidst the booty and warmth.

“I’m Caroline Corinthos. Mother, wife, friend,” a slight giggle entered her voice at this. Friends had always been so scarce for her but that was starting to change. “And a woman who is about to open what will be the hottest night club in all of Port Charles. Hell, New York too.” Her smile was so wide Sonny thought it would take two kisses to cover it. “I am enough, just me. Just crazy, loud, in-your-face me. Enough to accomplish whatever I want.” But what if she wanted more than he could give her? “I want you, and Michael, I want us. I’m not perfect. I have no intention of ever trying to be. But if you love me the way I am, then the world is a perfect place and I love being in it… with my family.”

Sonny’s worries over whether or not he could give her what she needed took a back seat to the solace he found in her touch. The hand she had used to force him to look at her now gently caressed his face. “You never asked your question.”

“Yes I did,” she said still soothing him with her touch. “I asked what I did. You may not have said anything but you answered me.” Again, he felt guilty.

“You didn’t do anything, baby. I’m sorry I’ve made you think that every blip on the radar is your fault.”

“I don’t,” she said honestly. She was as shocked by the openness she found in his eyes as, he was by what he saw in hers. Here in Jake’s, with tons of people around, they were more intimate, more truthful then they had ever been before. She could see no walls in his eyes and he could feel no fear in hers. They were safe together in the public bar. Both, reluctant to break the moment got lost in it until someone bumped into Carly from behind sending her deep into Sonny’s arms. For a moment she was tense but then she melted into his body, the warmth and the sent of him, and felt as drunk as a skunk in the merry month of May.

Neither was sure how long they stayed that way until Jake mumbled, “I got an open room,” on her way past. Laughing at themselves they separated.

“I guess it’s my shot,” Carly said tucking a renegade strand of hair behind her ear. She turned back to the table and took the easiest shot she could. And turned back to Sonny before the 14 ball fell into the far corner pocket. “Next?”

“What did Zander mean when he said he’d told you so?” Carly sighed and sat on the edge of the table. She inched her butt cheeks farther back over it and considered how to put it.

“I freak out, a lot, you know that.” She looked at him and he nodded seriously, his lips pursed. “Especially when I’m kept in the dark.” He nodded again remembering the last year of darkness. “So when I’d get all riled about you moving on, taking Alexis to Puerto Rico, the casino, running into the two of you all the time… he’d tell me that you still loved me, that I didn’t have anything to worry about… yada yada yada. So yes, he was right. You know if I didn’t love you so much that smirk you’re wearing would really be ticking me off.”

Sonny’s will proved weak this time and the smirk grew as he chuckled. “I knew that Zander was a smart kid.” Carly made a sound that translated from Carly-ese into a cross between “God help me” and “I’m never gonna hear the end of this, am I?” She looked out into the bar not seeing past the light’s halo around the table. _It was like being in a lit stage,_ Carly thought. _The rest of the world falls away and it’s just you on center stage._ “Move, you’re blocking my shot babe,” Sonny said raspily as his hand pulled at her rear, trying to scoot her off towards him.

“Oh, so sorry,” she said giving a bit of a jump and landing against him. Her feet were between his legs and the heat between them rose high and thick, encapsulating them inside. Sonny’s hand shoved Carly gently to the side his eyes locked still on hers. Groaning he turned his to the table before him and slammed into the cue ball. Three balls fell into various pockets, one solid, two striped. “Oh well, we weren’t following the right rules anyway,” Carly said understanding his urgency to end the game. “Three questions though,” she gave a high but decrescendoing whistle. “This could take awhile. Why didn’t you kill Zander? Is Johnny waiting upstairs to rip his lips off? Can I get another beer or are you going to cut me off again? That’s three right?” she cocked her head to the side. He nodded.

“Let’s see, actually that’s four. Um, if you want another beer I suggest you eat something.” Carly choked out one quick hoot of laughter and raised her eyes to the ceiling, or where it would be if she could see it. “No Johnny isn’t waiting up stairs, he’s out with the limo. And…I didn’t kill Zander because A, he’s your friend and I wanted to wait for your explanation before I just reacted. B, it didn’t seem like you were trying to self-destruct this afternoon when you yelled at me. You just looked hurt. C, I don’t ‘kill’ people Carly. I only import coffee.” She laughed again but this time he joined her.

She moved to get a good look at the table and saw a shot to her liking. She pounded the cue ball and quickly sent the 8 into the 3 and 15. The 15 thumped into the right corner pocket the three rolled off to the left corner pocket falling in hesitantly.

“How about one long explanation for the lot?” Sonny propositioned her when she turned back to him. Then Carly considered.

“Deal. What do you want to know?” She swiveled her hips and placed her hands bracingly on the edge of the wood veneer.

“Why pool? I mean why do you play it so much?” Sonny mirrored her action but only to block the view of her ass. His control was wavering and the desire to toss her over his shoulder in true Caveman Sonny fashion, and whisk her away was growing to elephantine proportions.

“Oh, and I thought you were gonna pick a hard one.” She swayed her hips slightly to knock his own gently. “First off, I like it because it’s pool. People from the right side of the tracks, with money,” she stood and took her cue in her hands. “Power, respect, the whole package, they play ‘billiards.’ White trash like me,” she looked hard at the table trying to figure out which shot to take that would clear the most balls to end the game so she could take her husband home on Valentine’s Day. “We play pool. Crack a beer, rack ‘em up, and just relax. Same game, different attitude.

“There’s the added benefit of whatever chump thinks he’s better than you trying to make some easy cash. Proving them wrong is fun and if you’re lucky you won’t have to worry about the tab. I mean what red-blooded male wouldn’t buy the hot chick, in tight pants, bending over the pool table for an hour a beer?” She bent over the table and took aim at the cue ball. “When you’re broke a free beer is always nice. Then there’s the stick.” She moved the cue stick back and forth between her arched fingers easily, poised over the table. She whacked the cue ball dead on and it knocked all the colors around. “Straight, smooth, stiff,” she straightened, her cue stick still perpendicular to her body and held in two hands. “And it’s great in a bar fight.” Sonny’s eyebrows arched and knitted. “Just boom,” she brought the thick end to within two inches of his forehead. “And boom,” she hooked the other end behind his knee and stepped on his foot. “With a tiny little tug I can have you on the floor with a knee as big as a watermelon.” Sonny heard a thud behind her and the 9 slipped into the nearest center pocket. The 5 and 10 balls followed it into the same pocket a moment later with the blur of colors streaking across the green felt. “Very functional, very effective in fending off beer buyers who think they have more than a game of pool coming to them.”

Carly was still very much in his “personal space” and Sonny couldn’t have been happier about it. Her little speech had only served to arouse him more than he already was. He needed a minute to pull himself together. While the idea of other men putting hands on his wife angered him, knowing she could pop their knees out so easily comforted him, and turned him on. Carly swayed in laughter and their bodies met. Fire ignited at the brush of fabric and the air oozed around them slowly. Sonny’s hand came to Carly’s cheek and her eyes closed at the sweet torture of the touch. He brought his mouth to her ear and her mind swirled at the feel of his breath against her neck. He senses heightened her whole body clenched in arousal. She felt his lips rub on her ear and heard his husked voice sigh out, “my turn.” Her eyes opened and her body felt unfulfilled as he moved away to take his shot. Bereft, suddenly chilled, and needing Sonny’s touch badly she wrapped her arms around herself waiting for him to finish.

He sank the1 ball and turned back to her. “What do we do now?” Seeing the unchecked need in her eyes he knew that if they touched now neither would be able to stop until they had given Jake’s patrons one hell of a show. He hugged himself as well gripping his pole tightly. He shrugged trying to look relaxed.

“How do you want to play it?” he asked her scratching his cheek, not that it was itchy.

Carly looked away, the intimacy to strong to keep her hands to herself much longer. “I say we take it slow. I’ve confused Michael enough since he got saddle with me for his mother. Poor kid. I don’t want him to have to deal with another curve ball for a while. He’s happy and he’s settled and I think that’s a good thing. I know he’d be happier if you were with us but… until we get all the things between us settle too, I think we should wait, keep it on the DL or he might expect too much too soon.” Sonny looked disappointed; he’d wanted them to move back in immediately. “Hey, look at it this way, we get to do that dating thing we never got to do before. And I get to keep my kitchen.”

“You use the kitchen?” he asked incredulous.

“Not to cook in, no. But it’s nice to be allowed in it.” Her face betrayed one of her complaints. “Michael likes to finger-paint right now and he makes such a mess that the only room that wouldn’t get killed is the kitchen, with all the tiles. And we like to hang out in there, you know with all that food nearby.”

“So we go slow?” he asked trying not to touch her still.

“Slow for us, yes. But not that slow,” she said meeting his eyes. Her gentle and loving look was reflecting brightly in his eyes. She moved around him and found a decent shot on the table. “You know I left something out earlier. There’s physics, too.”

“Physics?” Sonny asked perplexed.

“Yeah. You know, impact, inertia, line vectors, velocity, reflection, spring actions. It’s the way things are predestined to move when you hit them at certain speeds and angles.”

“ _What?_ ” Sonny nearly shouted in surprise and shock.

“Geeze, man chill. It’s not like I have the formulas memorized or anything. Most of them only deal with the universe in general like gravity, e equals mc squared, blah, blah, blah… When I look at a table it just see it… like little lines showing me what’ll go where when I hit the ball this way or that.” Sonny looked at her stunned. He never would have expected Carly to understand physics but then again when was the last time he got what he expected form his wife? Looking at the table trying to see what she saw he began to understand why she thought the way she did. Not crazy, just… outside the box. He looked back at her with unabashed love and pride on his face. Carly blushed when she saw it. Laughing at herself she looked down at her nervous hands. “So was that your one question?” He nodded.

Sonny moved to the table but couldn’t see a way to clear it. “What do you see?” he asked to see if maybe she could clear it in one shot and he could finally have an excuse to drag her back to the penthouse.

“Nope, I’m not helping you. My plans are dangerous remember? I get too excited in thinking I’m actually getting what I want and I blow the game… isn’t that how you put it?” She nearly quoted what he’d said to her the day he’d found Carly, Stavros Cassidine, and Michael at the arcade.

“Well obviously I wasn’t all right because, if we were playing by the real rules, you’d’ve cleared the table by now. Right?” Carly nodded.

“Yeah, I’m kicking your ass, as cute as it is. Shoot already,” she said impatiently. Sonny chuckled at her and tried to put the 2 in the center right but missed accidentally sinking the 7. Shrugging at his luck, he looked to Carly for his question. “Um…” Carly tapped her pole to her lips lost in contemplation. Her eyes shifted from side to side as if reading a page.

“What color are my underwear?” He laughed at her, “I couldn’t think of anything that you would answer.” Sonny smirked at her as he prowled around the table sighing in mock resignation. As he reached her side and had his hands about to peak inside her pants to find out, she said, “I got one. Courtney. How’s Courtney?” She raised a finger and looked at him to stop him from attempting to answer her first question.

“You did that on purpose,” he said a bit annoyed that he lost his chance to check out his wife.

“You’d like to think so,” she said with a devilishly innocent smirk. “How’s Courtney?” she repeated.

“I don’t know,” he sighed and slumped. “She got into a car accident in Mike’s uninsured car – damn dead beat – and skipped town. Taggert harassed her accused her of drunk driving, and when I told her not to say anything, to wait until Alexis got there, she just blew me off. Insisted she had nothing to hide and let them walk all over her rights. Just waved ‘em off like an idiot…” he sighed again. “What do I do?”

“You find her before AJ does.” She wanted to be supportive but his sister had behaved like a total ninny in Carly’s book, guilty or not.

“I’ve put feelers everywhere, I have the boys all out on the street. She’s,” he motioned the sign for nothing, “pffft, nada. Mike’s jumping all over me going ‘find your sister, find your sister,’ and” he turned his hands up. “I don’t know what else to do to clean up his mess.”

“His mess? This is Courtney’s mess not Mike’s,” Carly wanted to put blame where it belonged. Not that she was judging Courtney but she’d made a mess and needed to own up to it, even if she asked Sonny to clean it up for her. “She let the police use her, she got in the accident, she ran away from facing you and whatever becomes of this Taggert crap… which will probably be nothing. So how is this Mike’s fault?”

“His car was uninsured and now they can prosecute Courtney,” he said defensively.

“Did Courtney know that she was driving an uninsured car? Why was she even in Mike’s car? Zander said she had one when she came to town.” Sonny nodded.

“She ran out when I tried to tell her not to fall for Mike’s ‘but now I want to be your father’ act.” Carly touched his face.

“That’s her decision, Sonny, just like it’s yours,” her voice was soft. “You can’t pin this on Mike, I’m sure he didn’t know Courtney would drive his car or even that it was uninsured. He’s a bit of an airhead when it comes to paying his dues on time if you hadn’t noticed.” Sonny smiled a bit and pulled her close. She always made the bad things ok just by being near him. He sighed into her hair. She relished the need and love that poured from him. He needed her, he wanted her she kept reminding herself.

“I love you Caroline.” He felt her sob against him.

“I love you too Michael.” The tears came of their own accord and she turned her face into the musk sent of the leather. She tried to gather herself and compose her face into a pleasant sight. Wiping at the tears she looked at him.

“Let’s finish this game already,” she said and moved to the table. “The tricky part to the last shot is making sure to get the 8 ball in last or all your hard work is for nothing.” She bent over the table her eyes riveted to its contents. She stroked the pole and sent the cue quietly to the 2. It slipped into a pocket and the cue went at an angle towards the nearby bumper, bounced back and sent the 8 ball into the pocket next to Sonny’s right hand. He watched intently, amazed at how she saw it. She eyed him, still curved over the table, the cue stick still poised in her hands. “Any questions?”

He nodded. “Earlier, you were laughing at me and crying but you didn’t explain.” Even though he hadn’t actually asked a question Carly knew what it was. Why was she so mirth filled and why wouldn’t she tell him? She moved to him, pushed him so his rump rested on the edge of the table again, and she situated herself so that her feet were on either side of his right foot. He wrapped his arms around her waist joining their pelvises as she leaned back to keep from kissing him.

“Ok, you remember in Martinique I said that neither of us trusted each other and I needed to know you trusted me, forgave me, respected me or it would never work between us?” He nodded; he’d never forget it. “And you said that you trusted that I loved you?” He nodded again. “I was happy tonight because I trust that you trust that I love you. And I trust that you love me. It maybe small but it’s trust and that’s a start; it’s something to build on. If we can trust that in each other then we can build it into other kinds of trust.” Sonny felt her words sinking in slowly. He wasn’t sure what it all meant.

“But we need to respect that trust and that love which means you need to understand and respect that I think Alexis wants more than friendship from you. And I need to respect your feelings about Jax and I won’t kiss Zander again.” She shook her head slightly in emphasis.

“Don’t you see Sonny?” He was starting to. “We weren’t ready in Martinique. You weren’t really ready to trust my love any more than I was ready to trust yours. We were both afraid that we didn’t deserve it. But now there’s nothing between us that a little time, and a lot of me being patient can’t fix. We can work.” She saw hope fill his eyes as she spoke and tears filled hers.

“It won’t be easy but we can do it. If we can make it through the last year and still love each other then we can make it through anything. I … I just need one more thing form you. It’s not going to be an easy promise for you to give, but it’s important. Without it …

“I don’t want to have to fight my way out of another year like the last one so I need you to talk to me. I’m not saying tell me every little thing that goes through your head. But if you _think_ I did something, that it’s possible I betrayed you, I need you to promise that you will ask me, give me a chance to explain before you shut me out, before you shut down. I’m not asking for a blank check or automatic forgiveness for any mess I make. I’m asking for five minutes, no matter what you think. To trust me enough to ask why or what I did before you jump to the conclusion that it’s unforgivable. Can you do that Sonny?”

She looked at him with wide, waiting eyes. She was right. It would be a hard promise to keep. He’d already broken too many promises to her. That he’d tell her when things got really dangerous. The vows he took, twice. His mind contemplated.

“There’s no pressure now. Take a night, sleep on it. Whatever, just let me know when you make a decision.” Her hands landed and both his cheeks. She kissed his lips, tender and sweet and lingeringly. Slowly pulling way she kept her eyes closed. “I love you.” She shifted to go and ran her hands down his T-shirted chest. Desire rang through both of them, and he pulled her fiercely back to her place on his chest.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said his voice tortured his eyes filling with heated tears.

“That’s the risk you take when you love someone, Sonny. You can’t stay safe and sheltered if you open your heart even a little. I love you too much to try. I’m not afraid of getting hurt, I’m afraid of hurting you.” He closed his eyes and tears slipped form between his lashes. He felt the same way. He couldn’t stand the thought of hurting her anymore. He thought of the selflessness of her declaration, how ironic that the rest of the world seemed to think her completely selfish. Holding her close, Sonny made the decision to do whatever he had to do to keep this promise to Carly. Even if it meant … meant that he had to risk her protection. Her heart was dearer to him than her body and he knew he’d always have her heart.

“I promise Carly. I promise to talk to you, no matter what.” As if a mile had separated their bodies and souls before Carly’s self seemed to rush wholly into his, making them one soul, one figure in the cloudy bar, captured by the hanging light’s halo.

“We should play pool more often,” Carly muttered. “Maybe next time we’ll even follow the _real_ rules.” Sonny laughed and pulled her closer still.


End file.
